Language in Schools

As educators today, we are in an ever-growing, ever-changing society that has a great need for teachers that can identify and implement teaching strategies that emphasize and utilize language acquisition principles. As teachers today, we need to offer students that are learning English as a second language, opportunities to flourish in the classroom with their peers, and can take these skills into society as informed and successful individuals.

In Walqui's article, "Contextual Factors in Second Language Acquisition" it is mentioned that little emphasis is added to contextual factors in second language learners, including individual, social, and societal, which greatly impact learning. Teachers should be exploring language proficiency, by realizing a students learning style, what motivates them as a learner, and providing positive learning environments that can allow students to excel.

Students are genetically equipped with a specific program to get the process of language acquisition started. (Hohle). It is truly up to educators to enable the student's ability to process language through the students learning style, differentiated instruction, and motivation.

In the field of language acquisition, bootstrapping is considered the stress on a student that is learning a second language, in conjunction with the academic pressure that is laid upon these students to excel in a quick turnaround time. (Hohle) Personally, I believe learning shouldn't hold such restrictions. A student might need more time to work on an assignment, they might have more questions and just need some additional assistance. Due to the nature of their comprehension of the English language and continued learning experiences, time and assistance should be provided to ensure students can and will succeed in their work performance. If students struggle with a particular area, specifically reading content in English, all other areas of their education are going to falter and they will have such low self-esteem. With some additional resources and time, students can build their knowledge base, understand the English language with more success, and become independent learners that are designed to achieve.

Good teachers, whether working with students that are English speakers, or working with students that are learning English as a second language take the time to learn what motivates students. With intrinsic and extrinsic motivating factors utilized by a teacher, teachers are able to better communicate with their students and truly reach them.

Teachers should utilize their resources, work with parents and other teachers to ensure that students can receive the best academic experiences that match their needs. Differentiated instruction is just the tip of the iceberg, while students definitely need specific instruction and pre-planned lessons developed by teachers that can enable sheltered instruction, there are other parameters to learning that need to be taken into account.

If a student has low self-esteem because of the pressure or bootstrapping involved in learning a second language, teachers should be concerned about this as an issue and work on motivating the student with easier assignments to build up their esteem and show them how good they are with the basics. Then start from here building on their knowledge base and interacting with their peers, to ensure that they can learn from each other and grow.

All individuals are motivated to succeed. While success has a different meaning for everyone, humans are designed to interact, communicate, and have social relationships. English Language Learners are no different, they desire to communicate effectively and learn just as much as the average English learner. With diligence, differentiated instruction and positive teachers, all students can thrive.

References

Hohle, Barbara. "Bootstrapping Mechanisms in First Language Acquisition. EBSCO. Acquired September 10, 2010.

Walqui, Aida. "Contextual Factors in Second Language Acquisition". Center for Applied Linguistics. Washington, D.C. http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/digest_pdfs/0005- contextual-walqui.pdf Acquired September 9, 2010.